Quaker Simplicity

The Testimony of Quaker Simplicity

By Tim Burdick, Tacoma, WA – 2007

In his book, The Quakers in America, Thomas Hamm contends that the Quaker testimony of simplicity is one of only five unifying themes found common to the various persuasions of Friends today. Many Friends today would concur. This paper will examine what the original theological premises were that led early Friends (particularly George Fox, Robert Barclay and William Penn) to adopt a testimony of simple living.